Goats uncover cemetery

Stout appetites slowly clear brush that hides graves

Goats clear underbrush from historic graves in the Ballard Family Cemetery in North Mills River.

Beth Beasley/ Special to the Times-News

By Beth BeasleyTimes-News correspondent

Published: Saturday, December 19, 2009 at 4:30 a.m.

Last Modified: Friday, December 18, 2009 at 5:30 p.m.

MILLS RIVER

The brambles and underbrush are so thick it's hard to see anything, much less walk around.

Munching through the thicket are four sturdy goats, doing their part to uncover the grave sites of up to 30 early residents of Henderson County.

The Ballard Family Cemetery in North Mills River is the subject of a new experiment: using goats to clear vegetation from historic cemeteries.

"It's hard to tell what's here until we clean it out," says Toby Linville, the county staff member for the Henderson County Cemetery Advisory Committee. "It was so bad, you couldn't move in here."

Credit for the idea goes to Jennie Jones Giles, who heard someone joke that "goats would eat everything here" and borrowed six of the animals to eat through the overgrown thicket.

Giles, director of the Henderson County Heritage Museum, is also a member of the Cemetery Advisory Committee, established by the County Board of Commissioners in 2005. The committee is responsible for identifying and coordinating the county's upkeep of abandoned cemeteries.

Magistrate's goats

The free labor is supplied by Trouble, a brown and white Nubian Goat, two sets of Pygmy goats known as the Black Twins and the White Twins and a Nigerian dwarf goat named Oreo. All are on loan from Henderson County Magistrate Sandra Laughter.

"I thought the goats would be good for cleaning it up," says Laughter. She keeps 16 goats on her Hendersonville property.

He initially offered to transport the animals himself, but forgot the goats might ram the car's windows with their horns. So Animal Services transported the animals to the 1.22-acre site on Nov. 20, after a perimeter fence was installed around the cemetery plots.

The goats have been happily chomping their way through the thicket of briars and weeds ever since.

Using the goats to clear the old cemetery is preferable to another option.

"We have sprayed a couple cemeteries but we avoid that," says Linville.

Ballard cemetery

According to a book titled "Henderson County, North Carolina Cemeteries," the Ballard Family Cemetery contains 26 graves, some of them sunken, in four rows.

Smooth fieldstones mark the graves, most of them no larger than a loaf of bread. With all the vegetation, it's difficult to see what might resemble a row of graves.

Only two stones in the cemetery are marked -- one with "E.B. age 80," and a footstone marked "M.J.B." There are no dates.

On an initial visit to the site, committee members spotted a flatter stone marker that looked promising.

"We thought we'd found one, but flipped it over and there was nothing on it," Linville says. "What happens over time is they fall over and get covered with leaves. Once it's cleared, we can get a probe out here, dig it out and prop it up."

Linville makes a weekly visit to the site, located on a small lane off Fanning Bridge Road, to supplement the goats' feed and set out fresh water. A salt block and temporary shelter also have been set up.

Trouble has its breed's characteristic long ears as well as a fiercely curious temperament.

Large holly trees and smaller deciduous trees grow on the cemetery site, which is part of Phillip McElrath's residential property. The trees will be kept because their shade will discourage underbrush growth.

County officials and property owners have been cooperative in granting access to grave sites, Linville says. Under a statue governing cemeteries, with a court order granting permission to enter, county staff or families of the deceased have legal access rights.

Names and dates

Family cemeteries such as the Ballard plot are often named for the earliest deed or by the family whose presence was predominant, Linville says.

In a Times-News story dated May 8, 2005, Giles wrote about Reuben Ballard as "one of the first 15 justices to serve on the first Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions when it was formed. Ballard owned property in northern Henderson County, near the Buncombe County line."

During her tenure as a Times-News staff writer, Giles wrote an award-winning series of stories about the county's cemeteries from 2003 to 2005. The stories highlighted the need to protect cemeteries from neglect and development. Significantly, Giles' stories inspired state legislation to protect North Carolina's historic cemeteries.

"The series aided in changing state law, thanks to N.C. Rep. Carolyn Justus," Giles says.

Her stories have also assisted people searching for their Henderson County ancestors.

"People from throughout the United States who descend from people buried in these cemeteries still e-mail me after reading stories on the Web," Giles says.

Close to 200 cemeteries -- both family plots and churchyards -- exist in various conditions around the county, from Mills River and Bat Cave to Zirconia, to name just a few locations.

"Because so many people come into the Heritage Museum searching for these cemeteries, the museum and the Cemetery Advisory Committee are working together on a large county map, divided by traditional communities, with each cemetery noted," Giles says.

The map will be displayed in a case in the back lobby area of the Historic Courthouse.

During the harsh days of winter and on snowy days like Friday, Trouble and his friends will return to Laughter's home.

<p>MILLS RIVER</p><p>The brambles and underbrush are so thick it's hard to see anything, much less walk around.</p><p>Munching through the thicket are four sturdy goats, doing their part to uncover the grave sites of up to 30 early residents of Henderson County.</p><p>The Ballard Family Cemetery in North Mills River is the subject of a new experiment: using goats to clear vegetation from historic cemeteries.</p><p>"It's hard to tell what's here until we clean it out," says Toby Linville, the county staff member for the Henderson County Cemetery Advisory Committee. "It was so bad, you couldn't move in here."</p><p>Credit for the idea goes to Jennie Jones Giles, who heard someone joke that "goats would eat everything here" and borrowed six of the animals to eat through the overgrown thicket.</p><p>Giles, director of the Henderson County Heritage Museum, is also a member of the Cemetery Advisory Committee, established by the County Board of Commissioners in 2005. The committee is responsible for identifying and coordinating the county's upkeep of abandoned cemeteries.</p><h3>Magistrate's goats</h3>
<p>The free labor is supplied by Trouble, a brown and white Nubian Goat, two sets of Pygmy goats known as the Black Twins and the White Twins and a Nigerian dwarf goat named Oreo. All are on loan from Henderson County Magistrate Sandra Laughter.</p><p>"I thought the goats would be good for cleaning it up," says Laughter. She keeps 16 goats on her Hendersonville property.</p><p>Linville, who also serves as Henderson County's Code Enforcement Services director, contacted Laughter about borrowing the goats.</p><p>He initially offered to transport the animals himself, but forgot the goats might ram the car's windows with their horns. So Animal Services transported the animals to the 1.22-acre site on Nov. 20, after a perimeter fence was installed around the cemetery plots.</p><p>The goats have been happily chomping their way through the thicket of briars and weeds ever since.</p><p>Using the goats to clear the old cemetery is preferable to another option.</p><p>"We have sprayed a couple cemeteries but we avoid that," says Linville.</p><h3>Ballard cemetery</h3>
<p>According to a book titled "Henderson County, North Carolina Cemeteries," the Ballard Family Cemetery contains 26 graves, some of them sunken, in four rows.</p><p>Smooth fieldstones mark the graves, most of them no larger than a loaf of bread. With all the vegetation, it's difficult to see what might resemble a row of graves.</p><p>Only two stones in the cemetery are marked -- one with "E.B. age 80," and a footstone marked "M.J.B." There are no dates.</p><p>On an initial visit to the site, committee members spotted a flatter stone marker that looked promising.</p><p>"We thought we'd found one, but flipped it over and there was nothing on it," Linville says. "What happens over time is they fall over and get covered with leaves. Once it's cleared, we can get a probe out here, dig it out and prop it up."</p><p>Linville makes a weekly visit to the site, located on a small lane off Fanning Bridge Road, to supplement the goats' feed and set out fresh water. A salt block and temporary shelter also have been set up.</p><p>Trouble has its breed's characteristic long ears as well as a fiercely curious temperament.</p><p>"Trouble's like a dog," Laughter says. "He's kind of tame -- I didn't think he'd cause too much trouble."</p><p>Large holly trees and smaller deciduous trees grow on the cemetery site, which is part of Phillip McElrath's residential property. The trees will be kept because their shade will discourage underbrush growth.</p><p>County officials and property owners have been cooperative in granting access to grave sites, Linville says. Under a statue governing cemeteries, with a court order granting permission to enter, county staff or families of the deceased have legal access rights.</p><h3>Names and dates</h3>
<p>Family cemeteries such as the Ballard plot are often named for the earliest deed or by the family whose presence was predominant, Linville says.</p><p>In a Times-News story dated May 8, 2005, Giles wrote about Reuben Ballard as "one of the first 15 justices to serve on the first Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions when it was formed. Ballard owned property in northern Henderson County, near the Buncombe County line."</p><p>During her tenure as a Times-News staff writer, Giles wrote an award-winning series of stories about the county's cemeteries from 2003 to 2005. The stories highlighted the need to protect cemeteries from neglect and development. Significantly, Giles' stories inspired state legislation to protect North Carolina's historic cemeteries.</p><p>"The series aided in changing state law, thanks to N.C. Rep. Carolyn Justus," Giles says.</p><p>Her stories have also assisted people searching for their Henderson County ancestors.</p><p>"People from throughout the United States who descend from people buried in these cemeteries still e-mail me after reading stories on the Web," Giles says.</p><p>Close to 200 cemeteries -- both family plots and churchyards -- exist in various conditions around the county, from Mills River and Bat Cave to Zirconia, to name just a few locations.</p><p>"Because so many people come into the Heritage Museum searching for these cemeteries, the museum and the Cemetery Advisory Committee are working together on a large county map, divided by traditional communities, with each cemetery noted," Giles says.</p><p>The map will be displayed in a case in the back lobby area of the Historic Courthouse.</p><p>During the harsh days of winter and on snowy days like Friday, Trouble and his friends will return to Laughter's home.</p>